True crowdfunding goal.

Crowdfunding campaigns must raise more than project cost because fees, rewards, and contingency eat 25-40% of gross funds raised. This calculator works back from project cost to gross goal. Set goal too low and you can't deliver; set too high and you fail to hit threshold (Kickstarter all-or-nothing rule).

25,000 project cost + 5% Kickstarter fee + 3% Stripe fee + 15% rewards fulfilment + 10% contingency = 25,000 / (1 - 33%) = 37,313 gross goal. Raising 37,313 nets the 25,000 project cost after all deductions. Many first-time creators set their goal at 25k thinking that funds the project - they end up 10k+ short when all costs land.

Typical deductions: platform 5% (Kickstarter) or 5-8% (Indiegogo). Payment processing 2.9-3.5% + fixed fee. Rewards fulfilment 15-25% for physical products (materials, packaging, shipping). Contingency 10-15% for unforeseen costs. Digital-only campaigns can run 15% total deductions; physical-product campaigns commonly run 35-45%.

Run it with sensible defaults

Using project net cost of 25,000, platform fee of 5%, payment fee of 3%, rewards fulfilment of 15%, the calculation works out to 37,313.43. Nudge the inputs toward your own situation and the output recalculates instantly. The defaults are meant as a starting point, not a recommendation.

The levers in this calculation

The inputs — Project Net Cost, Platform Fee %, Payment Fee %, Rewards Fulfilment %, and Contingency % — do not pull with equal force. Not every input has equal weight. Flip one at a time toward extreme values to feel which ones move the needle most for your situation.

How the math works

Total deductions = platform + payment + rewards + contingency %. Gross goal = project cost ÷ (1 - deductions). The working is transparent — you can verify every step yourself in the formula section below. No black box, no opaque "proprietary model".

What the score tells you

Headline financial numbers — income, savings, debt — each tell part of the story. This calculation stitches several together into a single read you can track over time. The value is in the direction, not the absolute number.

What this doesn't capture

The score is a composite of the inputs you provide. Life context — job security, family obligations, health, housing — doesn't appear in the math but shapes the real picture. Use the number as a prompt, not a verdict.